Baby Games
by mimbulus-mimbletonia
Summary: ONESHOT Hermione and her husband argue over the name of their unborn daughter? And whats all this about a bet? Who will win, and what will the baby be called?


Baby Games

Hermione sat in her study, her hands clasped around a large, red, leather-bound book. Her head was resting on her arm and her hair wildly flowing over her shoulders. She was asleep and had been for the past hour, and so seeing his chance, her husband sneaked over to her, took the book she was holding so tightly, and strode out of the room quickly, stowing the book in his cloak while muttering, 'colloportus' to the door before returning to his bedchamber.

'Magical Names for Magical Children' was the book Hermione had been searching through the past few weeks, she wanted to find the perfect name for her daughter, and refused every option that her husband had given her.

He could remember one evening, about Six months into her Pregnancy, when they had made the bet, who would name their child.

_Flashback_

_Hermione was sitting in bed, knees held to her chest; thinking about her unborn daughter. Name of course had not been mentioned, however she knew eventually a name would have to be agreed, and that sooner was better than later._

'_Hunny,' she had begun slowly, 'have you thought about a name, for the baby I mean.'_

'_A little, but its family tradition for every firstborn girl to be called 'Cheri', which means sweetheart in French, I've always thought it rather pretty.'_

'_Oh but darling, I wanted something different, Cheri just doesn't sound right, I know you honour your family traditions, but couldn't Cheri be her middle name, please let me choose a first name for our daughter.'_

''_Mione sweetie, it's a tradition, and if I were to break that tradition, oh don't make me think about it. The only way I can see which my family might possibly accept, is if Cheri was our daughters middle name and for her forename to be picked by myself.'_

'_Absolutely not, I will be the one to name our daughter, I am her mother and I pride myself on being someone who can research thoroughly, I can provide lots of names for our daughter, and then narrow it down. Please darling, if you love me you'd…'_

'_Don't give me that rubbish. I have a proposal, I will break my family tradition, if and only if you can provide a list of three baby names, which are preferred by a judge, than a list of mine, whoever's name's win pick the first name, loser picks the second name.'_

'_So I come to this judge with three names, and you do to?'_

'_Yes, then he or she will pick their three favourite randomly, whoever has the most preferred wins?'_

'_Deal and I choose the judge,'_

'_Ok, but I choose the date of the judging. The baby is due on July 22nd, so the judging should be around July 8th. Okay?'_

'_Yes, that sound fine, and the judge will be Harry.'_

'_Hey that's unfair!'_

'_No, the names will be separate so Harry will not know who picked what name.'_

'_Okay sweetie, now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we start.'_

'_Night sugar plum,'_

'_Goodnight Dumpling.'_

_End Flashback_

It was now the 30th of June, and Hermione had yet to find a third name, her husband had also yet to find the last name on his list and so by stealing every baby book in the house, he confined himself to his bedroom before searching the books for something perfect.

He re-read his list so far, it read;

_Cheri_

_Blanche_

_One more yet,_ he thought to himself, pouring over volumes of Latin and French names. That had been one thing he had agreed with Hermione on, make it different, elegant or foreign. So here he sat, at 12:30 in the morning, looking for the third and final name for his list, the name which would make him win, for he so wanted to pick the name of his daughter, the competition with his wife just made it more fun. _But what if she wins? No, she can't; I will win. I must win, for who knows what Hermione will pick. She's a dangerous woman; I guess that's why I love her so much._

1 o'clock came and went, but still nothing came up which drew his attention. The midnight sky hung above him as he walked out onto his balcony, to see if a sudden stroke of inspiration would hit his mind. The star-strewn sky shone overhead, as if a strong light was coming from the stars, yet he knew nothing of muggle science, so really he had no idea about stars. Of course he was familiar with the constellations, as was everyone who had once attended Hogwarts; yet now, at a time of great need for inspiration, the heavens had failed him, and so he shuffled back into his bedchamber, his head hung in disappointment and his hands numb from the cold.

_What about things I associate myself with?_ He pondered. _No, that wouldn't work; I don't want my daughter associated with such things. I suppose colours would help._ He thought, while ruffling the pages on the leather-bound book he had taken from Hermione. Settling into his favourite armchair, he began to read the names based on colours;

_Scarlet_

_Ruby_

_Lavender_

_Ivory_

_Crystal_

_Sage_

_Emerald_

And he finally fell asleep, as his finger lay on the name he had found;

_Jade_

The next morning was tense between husband and wife, Hermione was stressing that Harry wouldn't pick her names, and that Cheri would be too awful to imagine, so she flooed Harry before breakfast in anticipation and told him to come as soon as possible.

Hermione only ate because of the baby, she was so nervous that her perfectly sized teeth were chattering against each other and her hands were trembling.

Both husband and wife had submitted their lists into a hat and gave it to Harry, before locking him in the study and taking a seat in the lounge, on separate seats because of the mounting tension.

Finally, at midday; a very tired looking Harry emerged from the room and summoning a butterbeer, he sat the couple down to discuss the results;

'Well I have to say,' Harry began, 'I don't really approve of this competition, and I think you are too stressed out about it, its becoming unhealthy for the baby. But, I will not tell you the names I have chosen until the baby is born, because I want you both to relax, and most importantly, still be able to talk; despite a silly competition. The past few months you both have been too caught up in this competition, that neither of you talk nor even see each other. All you do is barricade yourselves in your study's and research names. Unless you both co-operate, then the name of the baby will not be revealed, and I will choose a name, and I have always thought that your child should be called something muggle-related Hermione, so be careful; because the name Petunia is not one which I think either of you desire.'

'Harry James Potter!' Hermione screamed, 'you tell me the name right now or I'll…'

'Hex me 'Mione? You know I'd win, and it could hurt the baby,' smirked Harry.

'Okay, okay then, fine. Have it your way, now leave before I do hex you.'

'Bye then,' Harry called, before apparating home to Ginny.

The next week flew by, Hermione pottered around the house humming and tried not to think about the baby's name, while her husband chatted with her about useless topics which avoided the possibility of the baby coming into the convosation.'

On the morning of the 18th July, three days before her due date, Hermione felt a sharp pain between her legs and groaned, rolling over on her side to wake her husband, she was able to tell him about the contractions before he sprang into full father mode. He carried her to the fireplace, where they flooed to St Mungo's and before he could say anything to the healer who met them, Hermione had been taken and he was left on his own in the middle of the hospital. He managed to contact Harry who arrived within minutes and they sat together outside the room, where they had been told Hermione was.

'Are you going in?' Harry asked after a few minutes of silence, broken occasionally by a piercing scream echoing through the corridor.

'No, I don't think I could bear it,'

'You do look pale, well I'm going to help Mione, and I'm going to tell her the name.'

'Listen, I don't care what my daughter is called, or her middle name, as long as she's healthy,' he began, before pausing and asking Harry a favour. 'Tell Hermione she can name the baby, and it's middle name; but please, let me give my child a second middle name, after my mother.' he thrust a loose piece of parchment into Harry's hand and thanked him, before sitting back down and bowing his head in a silent prayer.

Harry had entered the room to find Hermione on her final push, her daughter was born with the loudest scream yet, which was met with fresh cries of a baby; she sighed with relief, hugging Harry tightly and whispering into his ear; 'these names better be good, because there's no way I'm going through all that again.'

Harry chucked and went to tell the healer the chosen names for the baby.

He re-entered the room to find Hermione holding her new baby to her chest, smiling contentedly while her husband stood beside her proudly, beaming at his daughter. The healer bustled into the room with a card from the hospital congratulating them on the birth of their new daughter, and then ushered Harry out so the family could have some alone time.

Hermione opened the card and read inside,

_Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl, we hope she brings you all the happiness you as parents could ask for._

_Born: 18th July 2006_

_Weight: 6 pounds 4 oz_

_Name: Jade Elizabeth Narcissa Malfoy_

Fin


End file.
